Cesar Gaviria

Cesar Augusto Gaviria Trujillo (31 March 1947-) was the President of Colombia from 7 August 1990 to 7 August 1994, succeeding Virgilio Barco Vargas and preceding Ernesto Samper Pizano. Gaviria worked as the campaign manager for New Liberalism leader Luis Carlos Galan during his 1989 presidential campaign, but Galan's assassination led to the party endorsing Gaviria as its presidential candidate. He continued the fight against narcotraffickers in his country, and Pablo Escobar's death in 1993 was a great achievement for the government.

Biography
Cesar Gaviria was born on 31 March 1947 in Pereira, Colombia to a family that was very influential in Colombian politics since the early 20th century. In 1974, he was elected to the Colombian Congress at the age of 27, and he served as Minister of Finance and Minister of the Interior under Virgilio Barco Vargas' government. From 1984 to 1985, he also served as President of the Chamber of Representatives, the lower house of Congress. Gaviria served as the debate chief and campaign manager of Luis Carlos Galan's 1989 presidential election, but Gaviria cautioned Galan to speak about issues aside from extradition for narcotraffickers; Galan was assassinated by the Medellin Cartel just before the voting would begin. At Galan's funeral, his son Juan Manuel Galan Pachon endorsed Gaviria as the next President of Colombia, and Gaviria avoided an assassination attempt when Pablo Escobar bombed Avianca Flight 203, killing 107 people. Gaviria would take office as President of Colombia on 7 August 1990.

In 1991, Gaviria had a new constitution adopted, and he led the fight against the Cali Cartel and various rebel factions in the country. He was forced to allow Escobar to build the La Catedral prison under his own specifications, and this "prison" became the new center of Escobar's drug empire. On 20 July 1992, Escobar fled prison after he discovered that he was to be moved to another prison, and he was gunned down by the Search Bloc police force on 2 December 1993.

After leaving office in 1994, he became President of the Organization of American States, and he was reelected in 1999, and he aimed at solving the political crisis in neighboring Venezuela. After he left the OAS, he was briefly a scholar at Columbia University in New York City, but he would return to Colombia and found an art gallery. In June 2005, he was appointed leader of the Liberal Party, and he joined the pro-democracy "Club of Madrid" non-profit organization.